Things get weirder and weirder: clash over Juneteenth monument

A member of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus tried to block funding for a planned Juneteenth Memorial Monument at the State Capitol because, she said, one of the sculpted figures looks like a caucus colleague.

During an House Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday, Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) offered a rider to the budget that would stop any state funds going to monuments depicting a living person currently serving as an elected official. She later withdrew the rider.

Dukes' target was Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston), who has, during a lengthy legislative career, carried legislation setting up both the Juneteenth State Holiday and the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Cultural and Historical Commission.

"For years people have been tiptoeing around this for fear of offending African Americans or Al Edwards," Dukes said. "But the fact is that the face on the 'law maker' character on the monument is that of Al Edwards. There's no ifs, and, or buts about it."


http://www.quorumreport.com/
-more-
http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/003526.html

Republicans are going to keep Al's face on the monument in exchange.

Sigh...I'm glad there are no big issues for the legislature this year.

sit in the gallery, explain our grievances & get ejected (or not). It may be the only way I can talk to my Rep, I have apparently exhausted all normal channels of communication. None of them have yielded any response other than "we have received your letter and will be sure to keep your concerns in mind..." and I'll pass your concerns to Rep. Baxter" telephone conversations.

Not only am I affiliated with the Democratic Party as a precinct chair, I actively campaigned for his opponent. I have to be careful about going to the Lege, I'm a state employee who works for a Perry appointee indirectly.

My only recourse for local issues is Sen. Barrientos. At least he's a Democrat.

If I understand, Texas didn't tell the slaves they were free until 2 years after the emanc.proc. was signed. If I were a decendent I think I'd be annoyed at that factoid.

Juneteenth celebrates the proclamation that slavery was officially abolished in Texas, one of four General Orders issued June 19, 1865 by General Gordon Granger when he arrived at Galveston to set up a military government at the end of the Civil War. (The other three, for anyone who's interested, named the officers of the military administration, declared all acts of the Texas Legislature while seceded to be illegal, and set out the procedures under which rebel military units were to disband and turn over arms and equipment.

http://www.gregsopinion.com/archives/005812.html#005812
Al Edwards: Statue-esque
(snip)
More googling ... more curiosities ... Al's no stranger to vanity, it seems. Check out the site devoted to Texas' Juneteenth holiday. Now, in fairness, Al was a leader in getting Juneteenth on holiday status and for something that was once a Texas-only holiday to be a nationally recognized day is no minor achievement. But does that much vanity strike anyone else as a bit over the top ... or is it just me?

There's also this very unusual entry into Al's bio: "In May 1994, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the African American Biographical Association in Atlanta, GA." Are my googling skills off, or are the only references to this group online both pointing to Al Edwards biographies? Again, nothing really untowards about this. But the degree of vanity is just confounding.
(/snip)


Sonia